It's been pretty quiet in here, once everybody had got over HBP, it would seem, so here's a little something to wake us all up.

I'm re-re-re-reading the series again (my wife, in fact, just finished reading them for the umpteenth time, and then went straight from HBP back to The Philosopher's Stone - now that's dedicated!), and I've noticed a couple of little tidbits. Possibly they've been mentioned before, but here goes ...

There are two very incidental remarks I've come across that I find very interesting; and, as I'm sure we all know, what may seem like purely throwaway incidents can come back to haunt the stories - for instance, Peeves smashing a valuable vanishing cabinet.

Firstly, in The Chamber of Secrets, Tom Riddle is musing on the similarities between he and Harry, and goes on to remark that they even look alike.

Secondly, in The Prisoner of Azkaban; after overhearing the conversation in the Three Broomsticks about Sirius betraying his parents, Harry lies awake in bed, seeing visions of the events surrounding his parents' death, including Sirius blowing up Peter Pettigrew Who resembled Neville Longbottom ...

Is Rowling hinting at something here? What does everyone else make of this?